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| Mr. Robino met the Spanish agent in a Barcelona cafe. |
MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH CONSUL
by DOROTHY GILES Illustrations by Clayton Knight
From the Case Book of the R.C.M.P.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
"Let's talk business," suggested the suave Spanish gentleman to the Montreal coal dealer, and that was the beginning of one of the most romantic true detective stories of recent times -a tale of drug smuggling, secret diplomacy, deadly peril and superb sleuthing by Canada's Scotland Yard.
MONSIEUR TOBINVILLE was troubled, He was a dealer in coals and meals in Montreal-not a big dealer, but one who desired to make his business more extensive, whence his present anxiety.
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As Don Miguel was about to take a letter
from the man, the constable intervened.
continued on page 120
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Surely, it had been good business acumen that had led him to strike up an acquaintance with the Spaniard who roomed in the same house where Tobinville had his modest lodging, Good business to inquire of that gentleman -Spain's consular representative- weather he, Tobinville, might not enter into some arrangement to import from Spain linseed meal which he could sell profitably in Montreal. And equally surely, it had been in the hope of promoting business that the Spanish gentleman, whose name was Don Miguel Malaquer, invited him and his friend, Beaulieu, the fruiterer, who had an interest in importing figs, raisins and almonds direct from Malaga, to confer in his room of an evening.
Surely, Monsieur Tobinville told himself, as he sat there now with Don Miguel and Beaulieu, it had seemed at the outset innocent and pleasant and promisingly profitable.
And yet-what was it Don Miguel and Beaulieu were saying?
Monsieur Tobinville got to his feet. Distress was in his face and in his voice, "Gentlemen," he protested, "I am afraid I cannot--"
But Beaulieu waved him aside, The Spanish gentleman assured him suavely that the affair under discussion was quite safe and would prove extremely profitable.
Business was business, said the Spanish gentleman. And if the business into which he was offering to induct Beaulieu and Tobinville was not one favored by His Majesty's government in Canada, well- The Spanish gentleman shrugged.
Business was business, said the Spanish gentleman. And if the business into which he was offering to induct Beaulieu and Tobinville was not one favored by His Majesty's government in Canada, well- The Spanish gentleman shrugged.
Tobinville made no further protests, It was all very confusing, And the details which the Spanish gentleman did not go into explicitly bothered him, What were the "arrangements" the Spanish gentleman mentioned so confidently? And who were those "inside agents" who were "in the know"?
Later, when Beaulieu had gone home, and Tobinville had retired to his own room and to bed, but not to sleep, these things returned to trouble him, There returned, too, the memory of the sinister word "drugs," which the Spanish gentleman had spoken frequently.
Next morning Monsieur Tobinville carried his troubled conscience around to R.C.M.P, headquarters.
So it was that a merchant of coals and meals in Montreal started an affair which had international repercussions -an affair entered in the files of the Royal Canadian Mounted, from which I have taken it exactly as it happened,
The R.C.M.P, is charged with the enforcement of all Federal statutes within the Dominion, Among these statutes, the Opium and Narcotic Drug Act presents the gravest problem.
The fact that today drug addiction in Canada is less per capita than in any country on earth is due to the persistent efforts of the police to stamp out the evil. This means constant vigilance over underworld resorts where drug traffickers congregate, It means relentless following up of those least offenders, the "spike men," "main liners" and "bunk smokers"-all who are "on the stuff"- because these pitiable victims lead the way inevitably to the "connection"-the men who are "dropping" in that particular vicinity,
But behind these, supplying them, are the big shots of the drug game -men who not only supply the demand but create it, building up fortunes for themselves through the destruction of their fellows. To catch them in their crime of smuggling drugs from one country to another and bring them to punishment -here is the great task of the police narcotic squads,
Drugs travel.
That seems to be their destiny, Contraband everywhere, they make their way around the globe: China, Japan, India, Persia, Turkey, Greece, Parts of South America supply them to the wholesalers who are to be found in every seaport of Europe and America,
Yes, drugs travel.
The police know this, And they know, too, that roads must be watched; ports must be watched; men must be watched . . .
For instance, there is the "case" of Mr. Robino, a gentleman who found his way to Don Miguel Malaquer only a short time after Monsieur Tobinville had unburdened his conscience and changed his lodgings to another part of town.
Mr. Robino's address was New York. Dufresne, who introduced him to the Spanish consul, mentioned his flourishing business and sound financial rating. The United States was still enjoying Prohibition at that time, and Mr. Robino's bootlegging operations were extensive and lucrative. But, Dufresne said, Robino's business was not confined to alcohol. He also dealt in drugs, and on account of the difficulty of shipping drugs from the Pacific ports to the East Coast, he was looking for opportunities to purchase them from European agents.
"Then your need is already supplied," said Don Miguel.
"You mean you can get me what I want?" Robino demanded.
"Whatever you want, and as much as you want- and are prepared to pay for." "That's understood. I pay. But can you deliver?"
A SMILE illumined the dark features of the Spanish gentleman. "Perfectly, Senor. Our arrangements are complete in every detail. The goods are bought in Spain from agents to whom I introduce you. They are carefully packed in specially made and marked cases which are labeled, say, olive oil. The invoices, bills of lading and a pure-food certificate forged with the signature of the British consul in Barcelona are obtained by one of the agents.
"The cases are shipped either direct to Montreal or via New York, in bond. Here they pass through the hands of certain friends of ours in the Customs who are willing not to be interested in what the cases contain so long as their commission on the contents is paid -paid in advance. The cases are released from the warehouse to a consignee who holds them for you until you claim them."
"And the commissions?" Robino asked.
"Mine is remitted to me by the firm from whom you buy your goods. There is a flat rate for the others who undertake to pass the cases through the Customs -five dollars a case for spirits and fifty dollars a case for drugs. The money to pay these fees and the legal duty on the olive oil as well as warehouse charges must be banked here in advance."
"And it works?" asked Robino. "The police have not interfered?"
"What chance is there? My associates in the enterprise are officials with sufficient authority to make such a scheme practical in every way. You will understand that I can mention no names."
Robino accepted this. "And the white stuff?"
"We can supply that, too. There is also a firm in Munich to which I can recommend you. The price of cocaine in Barcelona is now about one-fifty to two dollars an ounce."
"Cheap' enough," Dufresne commented.
"If I buy the drugs through you, how will they be shipped?" Robino asked.
The Spanish firms were clever about this, Don Miguel assured him. The morphine or cocaine would be packed in fifty- or one-hundred-grain containers and hidden in tins of olive oil or in kegs of olives. One keg of the latter could be made to carry one hundred and fifty ounces. Smaller amounts could be sent in bars of Castile soap. Sometimes the drugs, packed in rubber balls, were inserted in orange skins.
"You must meet my friend and associate, another Spanish gentleman, Tey de Torrentes," he said. "He is more fully acquainted with the details of the shipping than I. It is he who knows the officials who are helping us." He rose. "To our better acquaintance, Senor."
Now Mr. Robino had been exceedingly careful not to arouse suspicion concerning his business in the city, for he was a shrewd man whose profession demanded a capacity for secrecy. And yet, the files at Police Headquarters contained an amazingly accurate report of all his movements since his arrival in Montreal.
This report contained, besides the information about Robino, certain facts about Dufresne's part in the undertaking and about the Spanish consul and those who had visited his office.
It was signed not by a name but by a number-No. 5386.
It was a week before the Spanish consul arranged the meeting between Mr. Robino and Tey de Torrentes, at the consul's office, which was also his home. Mr. Robino went away from the meet- ing with promises of letters of introduction, a visa for himself and his wife, who was coming to Montreal to accompany him on the trip to Europe, and the assurance of Tey de Torrentes that he would furnish a schedule of prices for his services in getting the contraband through the Customs when the cases arrived.
So it happened that on a day in October Senor Felipe Martorell, a stout little man of middle age, and his son Felipe drove out to his famous vineyard at the base of Montserrat with two guests, the American gentleman Senor Robino and his wife. The first meeting between the Spanish wine merchant and his new client, at the latter's hotel in Barcelona, had been diplomatic.
Later, at a cafe, Senor Martorell had spoken in sonorous phrases of the fine wines his vineyard produced, his ability to fill any orders for these or for alcohol.
Not until their third meeting did Mr. Robino introduce the subject of drugs. Could Senor Martorell supply these?
But at mention of the word "drugs," Senor Martorell became remote. He turned the subject. Was Senora Robino enjoying her visit to Spain? he asked. And did Senor Robino find many English at his hotel in Barcelona?
Robino could recollect only one -a tall young Englishman named Salt. They had chatted together several times in the lounge. A nice chap, but without business interests. A tourist.
Again Robino came back to the affair which had brought him the pleasure of Senor Martorell's acquaintance. And Martorell quickly made the suggestion of the auto trip to the vineyard, and later to Tarragona, where his bank was located and where their business could be concluded. Fifty cases labeled "Pure Supreme Olive Oil," each case containing four tins, a few of them filled with oil, the rest to be filled with sixty-five percent overproof alcohol. It was a small order.
"It is the first," Robino explained. If all went well, there was promise of more business. Particularly if Senor Martorell could supply him with cocaine.
But Senor Martorell was gazing at a pretty girl, and he made no reply.
Meanwhile a sheaf of notes had been added to the files at Police Headquarters -notes bearing that cryptic signature, "No. 5386."
In these notes No. 5386 described minutely the way in which the goods purchased by Robino in Barcelona were to be packed. He outlined the steps that would be taken at the Customs when the shipment was received for examination. He gave the names of men to be "watched."
In the file, too, was a summary of what the successful completion of this piece of police detective work would mean: removal of the consul; conviction of Tey de Torrentes; the Customs officers implicated in the scheme denounced and removed from office; a shake-up of the whole system.
What must No. 5386 have to accomplish this?
Proof of every move made by the plotters. Corroborating testimony of eyewitnesses. Samples of handwriting to prove the authorship of certain documents.
Proof to support proof; witnesses to support witnesses.
All that is packed into that significant word before the Law-evidence.
Can No. 5386 get this? . . .
When Robino runs up to Montreal to inquire how things are progressing and when he may expect to receive his shipment, Torrentes, with a troubled look, presents a counter-question: Why has Robino bought only fifty cases, and of these only one-half alcohol?
Robino looks troubled. He explains that it is drugs he really wants. Torrentes reports that Martorell has written the consul that he can now supply these, having made profitable connections in Germany.
"When this first shipment comes through and I am fully satisfied of the efficacy of your system, I'll be ready to order drugs," Robino replies, adding that he has his own security to consider.
"Who was the Englishman you were seen with in Barcelona?" Torrentes asks suddenly. "That's what scared Martorell off about the drugs. That is why the cases have not been shipped by the first steamer. On the last trip of that vessel the Customs men in New York seized eight hundred thousand dollars' worth of narcotics found aboard."
"Do you think the police are getting wise?" Robino's voice is as calm as before. But his eyes are anxious.
"Who can tell? There is always danger. But I believe now that your cases are under way."
TORRENTES REMINDS Robino that he will have to deposit thirty-five hundred dollars with him to cover the costs of sixty-eight dollars per case for the legal duty on the olive oil which the cases are supposed to contain, the warehouse fees and the bribes to the Customs officials.
"I leave for New York tonight," Robino replies. "I shall arrange at once about the money. Dufresne will represent me in this matter. Advise him when the goods arrive, and we will get them."
It is at this point that Mr. Robino fades out of the story. Has Torrentes' question about the Englishman in Barcelona frightened him?
However, he keeps his word about the thirty-five hundred dollars pledged to Torrentes. A few days after his departure Dufresne informs the Spaniard that Robino has forwarded his check to a bank in Montreal, with instructions to pay the money to Torrentes when presented by Dufresne.
We leave them there before the teller's window, to take from police records the report of Detective Corporal W. A. Anderson, R.C.M.P.
I have already taken down the numbers of the marked bills set aside by the teller to be paid to Torrentes when he cashed the check. I occupied a desk in the manager's office. I saw Tey de Torrentes and Dufresne enter together. Dufresne obtained the white envelope from the manager. He handed it to Tey de Torrentes. Both left. Tey de Torrentes did not cash the check.
I joined Corporal Kyle and Special Agent 98 outside shadowing the bank. We followed the two to Torrentes' office. Pyle and S. A. 98 remained there to shadow. I returned to Headquarters to report.
Follows Special Agent 98's report:
After ten minutes Tey de Torrentes came out of his office. I shadowed him to the bank on St. James Street. On the way he met a man at corner Craig and Bleury streets. This man I had already shadowed on March sixth, having picked him up leaving - Drug Co., which place is suspected of illegal drug traffic.
They remained in conversation for about ten minutes. On entering the bank Tey de Torrentes deposited something, then wrote out a check which he cashed . . .
Now No. 5386 reports:
Tey de Torrentes has told Dufresne there is a delay about the fifty cases leaving New York. He is prepared to return the $3,500. Dufresne said No, to retain this pending the arrival of the goods.
I believe something has happened to alarm the Customs, and they told Tey to see how Dufresne would act when advised the goods not to hand. I think the cases came about March 11. The Customs are watching to see if there is any undue anxiety over them. The shipment will be released in a few days if nothing happens to alarm Customs officers involved.
Later:
Please make no inquiries. Torrentes was told two men from Ottawa at customshouse looking for dope. All very nervous.
To the commissioner No. 5386 reports:
It is impossible to say what has alarmed the ring. But I believe we would be well advised to wait until we are better informed about the present delay.
Then an order signed by Inspector Phillips:
All men are withdrawn from shadowing Tey de Torrentes in case he become alarmed . . .
On the twenty-eighth of March, eight months after Mr. Robino asked Dufresne to introduce him to the Spanish consul, Torrentes notified Dufresne that forty-five cases of "olive oil" would be ready for removal from the warehouse in the next week. The forty-sixth case was still at the customs-house, but it would be passed, and Dufresne could pick that up the following day.
Dufresne himself rode with the truck driver whom he had engaged to go to the warehouse for Mr. Robino's shipment. One or two of the warehouse men stood watching while the cases were being loaded. Then the truck started away.
Was that car with two men in it following them? Dufresne had looked sharply at the cases as they were being loaded on the truck. Some had been tampered with. A few leaked.
Suddenly a man hailed him from a street corner. "Dufresne, where are you going? Give me a lift?"
Dufresne ordered the driver to stop. He looked up the side street. A car was parked there. It looked like a police car.
The man got in; the truck went on.
Finally it turned into an empty garage.
"We'll leave the goods here," Dufresne told the driver and his helper.
The truckman unloaded, received his pay and drove away.
Now the car which had been waiting up the side street turned in at the garage. Several men sprang out. Dufresne turned to the man who had climbed into the truck.
"Well, Anderson," he said, "the stuff's in your hands now. Tell 5386 for me."
So cleverly had it been done that neither the Spanish consul nor Tey de Torrentes, apparently, had any idea that the larger part of Mr. Robino's shipment was now in the possession of the police
Certainly Torrentes showed no undue alarm when he told Dufresne several days later that the remaining four cases were ready for delivery. Nor, apparently, did he discover that these followed the first shipment.
About a month after Mr. Robino's departure Tey de Torrentes received a visit from W. F. Wilson, chief of the Customs Excise Prevention Service. Mr. Wilson asked a number of questions regarding one C. A. Robino and Mr. Dufresne, to which Torrentes replied in a signed statement that Robino had given him five hundred dollars in cash to pay duty and brokers' fees on a shipment of goods. That was the only business he had transacted for Mr. Robino.
"I do not know the men who took the imports from the warehouse to Robino. I never saw Dufresne, nor do I know his address."
Was Tey de Torrentes really surprised when the police finally came with a warrant for his arrest on a charge of defrauding His Majesty's government? Surely he must have known that the game was up.
But the Spanish consul refused to believe that the warrant sworn against him by one Brown, Regimental No. 5386 of the R.C.M.P. was true. How could he, a representative of a foreign government, be charged with smuggling?
As Don Miguel, fuming and raging, walked out of his house with the constable, a man was coming up the porch steps- a man apparently known to the Spanish consul. The man stepped forward to slip a letter into his hand. The constable intervened. Don Miguel sprang back, his foot slipped and he fell.
Only his dignity and Castilian pride were injured, yet he made the most of the injury, writing from prison to Madrid, to London, and starting a state inquiry into his case. But the charges against him were too grave; the evidence, too complete; the need of stamping out the international drug traffic, too urgent. No. 5386 had done his work too well.
One wonders what was the state of mind of the Spanish consul, of his associate Tey de Torrentes and of the various Customs officials and the warehouse manager who were convicted severally of the crime of drug-and-liquor smuggling, when Sergeant Brown, Regimental No. 5386 of the Royal Mounted Police appeared against them, and they recognized in him their client-Mr. Robino.
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